


Ice and Fire

by My_Coffee_Is_Hot_Chocolate



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Except for the murder part, Have I mentioned Medda is a queen, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I'll add more characters as I go, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Most is just implied, Murder, NOTHING IS GRAPHIC, Past Sexual Abuse, yet - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-05-15 01:57:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19285762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Coffee_Is_Hot_Chocolate/pseuds/My_Coffee_Is_Hot_Chocolate
Summary: Hotshot and Kenny are polar opposites. Red and blue, truthfully. Hotshot has been abused his entire life, Kenny had a loving family. Hotshot wishes his parents were dead, Kenny prays every night for them to come back to life.Their only connection is where they were saved from. Snyder's house of Refuge for abused children.They're fire and ice, but new life comes from the harshest conditions.Trigger warnings for murder, child abuse and sexual abuse.





	1. The story of Fire

Hotshot had never been good at hiding his powers. After… Everything, he's come out with his powers and the memories. His memories, as much as he hates it. 

But then he was put in a place for kids like him. A place he's be safe. He was so relieved at the prospect. Maybe he could have friends, maybe he could feel good. Maybe he could recover.

His brown eyes were so bright with new hope when the car he was in pulled up to his new home. The 14 year old only wanted a new start in life. Away from the people who hurt him.

Of course, some people hated people who were different. He had darker skin, and some people would be cruel as his parents because of it. He wasn't even Latino, though he looked it. 

And that was the first time he used his powers on purpose. His hands heated up, flames licked his fingers. And with a simple movement, just raising his hand, it burst into flames. 

He wished he's been looking when he saw the head person, Snyder, get a gleam in his eyes. 

The next day he was shoved into a room, by himself. Sometimes, the vent in the ceiling would gush water. Other times the floor would heat up. And sometimes, the worst times, he was dragged out and made to be docile while being hurt in old and new ways.

He never knew how, or why, until one faithful day. He'd been locked in the room for over two months. He was so starved for touch even the beatings and… That felt nice. 

He came face to face with a boy. Pale and blond and so guilty looking. Pure fear shot through him when he felt someone poking around in his mind.

And then there was nothing.

Hotshot had no idea how long would pass between moments of something-ness. Moments of memory. He saw other children. He tried to say hi, to be friendly and kind. What everyone, before he came here, said he should be to make friends. 

He was always met with hostility and anger. A brief glimpse of powers being used. He saw his hands coming up and fire blasting from them. He wasn't doing that, he didn't want to!

Each gap ended with the feeling of someone coming into his mind. He began to fear it. He was so scared. Every waking moment was spent in petrifying fear. He thought he'd left this all behind. 

And then, one day he woke up with his hands chained behind his back in a room. He panicked, crying and sobbing. He was so scared. He was trapped! He wanted to go home, even if home hurt. He didn't want to be here. Anywhere but here.

His crying apparently attracted someone. The door opened to reveal a woman. She seemed concerned, but Hotshot tried to scramble away. His back hit the wall. His hands heated up, as did his wrists. He could get out of here. 

He ripped his wrists apart and tries to run for it.

He was caught by someone with cold hands. Ice cold. He didn't look down, he just saw blue eyes before things went black again.


	2. The Song Of Ice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Kenny came to be.

Kenny had missed his old life so much. He wanted to go home from the moment he left.

He remembered waking up, thirsty. And what he saw would scar him for life. His brother and sister were shot. Only a few thoughts ran through his head. The loudest being 'RUN!!'.

So run he did until morning. A police car picked him up on the street. He was crying and bloody. No one got a single word out of him where he was found, or during the ride.

Ice crystals formed a outline around his hands. He cried so hard, sobbing as ice formed around him. His tears froze, his hair was crusted with frost. 

He didn't stop sobbing until he was in the hospital. He looked around at the doctors poking him and trying to talk to him. And he recited the only English he knew. "I'm deaf."

He was taken around various foster homes and his powers only got more intense. In his third foster home, he caused a small explosion of ice. 

So, he was taken to a 'special' foster home.

He wasn't there long, and he wasn't hurt like some of the others. He was okay for the most part. But he was taken in with the rest, as confused as he was.

He had no idea what was going on half the time. He filled in the gaps with what information he had. He stayed stoic through the whole thing. At 16, he was one of the older ones. He had to be strong.

He got to know their new mother. Miss Medda Larkin. She spoke sign language, and she talked with him. She made him feel welcome. 

So when she asked him to come with her, he followed without hesitation. She wasn't his mother, but she came close now. 

Seeing a boy try to bolt out of the room with red hot hands was a…. Surprise. But he caught him, icing himself up to not be burned before he even had a chance to recognize him. 

And the boy passed out before he could try to figure it out. He was light, lighter then Kenny had expected by far.

But once he got him inside on the bed, and saw his face? Frost started creeping up his arms.

That was the boy who'd kept everyone in line, and he was third only to the Delancy Brothers and Snyder in tyranny. 

Why was he here?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited a little from Tumblr, but also posted there! I'm working on the third chapter, POV will switch around a lot.


	3. Moderation

When Hotshot woke up, someone was leaning over him. Someone with dark blond hair and bright blue eyes looking right at him. Understandably, he freaked out. He felt the familiar heat in his hands as he sat up. Ready to push this person away. But the fire flickering at his fingers was quelled by.. Frost?

Hotshot looked at his now icey hand in shock. Then at the other, who was retreating. Who, apparently, had ice powers. He saw someone no older than himself. A teenager, with ice on his eyelashes and frost in his hair. 

They watched each other for a good long while, long after the ice melted from Hotshot's hand. If one moved closer the other backed up. It stayed in this precarious balance for what seemed like hours before Hotshot spoke. "Who are you?" His voice was full of quiet amazement.

He got no answer for a moment. 

Then only two simple words. "I'm deaf."

Well, that actually explained it. The only problem was he knew no way to communicate with this kid. He looked back up.

_Those same blue eyes but wide with fear._

Hotshot blinked. What was that? It was… A flash. It terrified him. Why had he been scared? Had he hurt him?

The boy was looking at him with wide eyes, yes. But they were curious. Inquiring. Asking questions Hotshot didn't have the answers to.

Hotshot inched forward again, and this time the blue eyed boy didn't move away until they were close enough to touch. Ever so gingerly, Hotshot took the boy's hand. It was icy cold. So, naturally, Hotshot wanted to warm him up.

He got up and hugged him, warming himself up until he was basically a human heating pad. The boy slowly warmed until he was a more human temperature, and Hotshot cooled. And they were both normal.

Unfrosted blue eyes met brown eyes without the glow of heat. Neither moved away, the feeling of regulation too amazing to give up. For once, neither was too hot or cold. They were just right.

They stood hugging until the door was kicked open. Before Hotshot could see who it was, a massive wall of ice was thrown up over the door. The beautiful boy bolted to the window and looked back at him.

Hotshot followed without hesitation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this is so short and so late. I will be trying to update this soon.


	4. Of woodstoves and snowbanks

Kenny made a quick ice slide for their escape route. He hoped Hotshot would melt it before they could be followed. His feet his the ground, covered in snow and ice already. He grinned. Perfect for him!

He grabbed a handful of snow, and it didn't melt against his now freezing hand. He smiled and looked to where he assumed Hotshot to be, but he was nowhere to be found. He looked back up, but he wasn't there either. 

Kenny was panicking when someone warm tapped his shoulder. He whirled around to see bright brown eyes. He smiled, though he wished for that moment of normalcy again. But, where was the fun in that?

Kenny grabbed his hand and led him out of the alley. Their powers mingled until both their hands were normal temperature again. It was the weirdest feeling in the world. He was so used to the cold. And then this fiery boy woke up, and already things were thrown in turmoil again. 

They walked down the wintery street. Kenny immune to the icy blasts and Hotshot just making a fire in his free hand.

Kenny eventually led him to a little place he'd spent time carving out as his own. A abandoned storefront with a woodstove and a few of the items left behind on the shelves. The shop was hidden deep in the alleys of Brooklyn, a good two hours walk. 

Kenny looked back to see Hotshot smile at the little place. He got the woodstove going. Rusty as it was, it worked like a charm. Kenny felt himself warming up until he was normal temperature. 

He basked in the warmth for a long time. The melt left him a little damp, but his clothes dried fairly quickly. He almost forgot there was someone else there until Hotshot added another log. 

Kenny decided to introduce himself and found a paper and pen. He felt eyes watching him as he wrote in smooth cursive. He handed the book over to Hotshot. It read: 'My name is Kenny. You're Hotshot. We should be safe here for now.'

It took Hotshot a moment to reply, but his handwriting was legible when he handed the book back over. 'Nice to meet you. Why do they hate me?'

It took him a long time to think of a response to that. He didn't want to say why, he'd seen and it scared him. But this boy in front of him was different. He had a certain look, like he was hopeful. 

Kenny decided against telling him.

'I don't know. How long do you want to stay?'

Hotshot took a few seconds to scribble a barely intelligible reply. 'Whenever.'

Kenny quickly iced over the fire. He got up, offering his hand for Hotshot to hold. Hotshot smiled and took it. His big calf brown eyes looked so trusting. Kenny found himself wanting to live up to that. Maybe he'd been born with a power, puppy dog eyes.

He wouldn't doubt it if someone said that it was true. 

So, home they went. And whenever Kenny looked behind him, a unbelievably happy looking kid was right behind him. The face of someone who had something they hadn't had in a long time. He didn't know if it was the offer of companionship, or even just holding his hand.

Either way, it hurt to think about it. He had a hurtful past, but what happened to Hotshot must have been bad..

He didn't want to think about that. Moving on.

The walk home felt longer. He wondered if Jack and the others were still there. Though maybe, he wondered this too late. As in, he was in the window. And people were indeed waiting for them.

Jack immediately got between the two of them. Kenny couldn't tell what he was saying. But he did see Hotshot's hair start to smolder and his hands started smoking. He tried to tug Jack away, but Jack wouldn't budge. Kenny iced himself up in preparation. 

When the first hint of flames came from Hotshot, Kenny threw up an ice wall. But he couldn't save Jack.

Thankfully, this was self contained. He just smoldered and was far too hot to touch. A few flames licked along his back and in his hair. But he seemed to have a weak handle on his powers. And with something like that, a power like that, control was critical. What if he had exploded in flame?

Desperately, Kenny grabbed Hotshot by the hand and dragged him to the one person he trusted to fix this.


	5. Coming Along

Miss Medda Larkin was a lot of things. An actress, a theater owner, a large social figure. And a mother. And that last one had to be the most stressful part when your children have super powers.

She'd been taking a well earned break -Mike and Ike had made another double- when another two of her sons stumbled in. Kenny and Hotshot. While she was relieved they did get along, Hotshot was smoking and Kenny was starting to steam. 

The first matter of business was to calm them both down. Her first instinct was calm Kenny. You'd think ice wasn't as dangerous as fire. Medda would be inclined to agree most of the time. But this was Kenny. He was known to explode with ice, and it was destructive. And if Kenny was calm, hopefully, they could calm Hotshot down. He didn't seem to be as much of a danger in the moment anyways. 

Medda quickly realized he was far, far too cold to touch. He was cold enough his body was steaming from contact with the air like dry ice. She couldn't get near him.

But she was nicely surprised by a sudden action from the boy she expected it the least from.

Hotshot hugged him and increased his own temperature. She was incredibly scared they'd both explode in an unholy mix of ice shards and fire. But instead, they both started to normalize. 

Medda calmed down. She definitely needed to keep them together now. She remembers the small bag full of things that had been found and labeled as '27'. All the other bags had been claimed by her kids. The last one probably belonged to him. 

She stayed, ready to help, until they both seemed calm. That was when she made her presence known. "Boys?"

Hotshot jumped like someone fired a gun behind him and jumped in front of Kenny. His hands glowed red hot. He seemed ready to fight. The good parts were that he was confident enough to fight back, and that the movement drew Kenny to look around and spot her. He seemed relieved. Unfortunately, the two didn't seem to know how to communicate what they were feeling to each other. 

Medda knew Kenny better. He was a very verbal person, even if he didn't use his voice. So he tapped Hotshot's shoulder to get him to turn around.

It seemed Hotshot didn't know that. He started smoking again. And even when Kenny tried to cool him down he just kept heating up. This all happened withen a few seconds.

She quickly jumped into action. "It's okay, it's okay, I won't hurt you. My name is Medda." 

Hotshot calmed down a little. At least he stopped smoking. So Medda continued. "I'm sorry you woke up alone, we couldn't find enough people for someone to be there all the time. But, I'm glad to see you two are getting along. I believe I have a bag of your things, if you want them."

Hotshot seemed skeptical. Medda could understand, she'd read his file. He'd only had a scarce few adults in his life who hadn't hurt him. But it also carried the note that he had been a hopeful and a very good kid, if a little delayed emotionally. 

The hopefulness seemed to shine through more then the distrust. "I'd love to have them." He finally calmed down and his hands were a normal color. 

Medda smiled and got up. "Let's go then."

Medda led him to the living room. Thankfully, most of the other kids were at school. She was glad, especially since most of the cubbies in the hall were empty. There was usually over 40 bags, but now there was just one. 

"You can customize your cubby all you'd like." Medda said, trying to give him something to look forward to. "It's your space. Just yours." 

Hotshot looked over in surprise. "I can?" He looked so bright and happy. "It's all mine?!" He jumped up to grab his bag. He rifled through it. "My blanket! And my books!" He pulled them out and grinned. He smiled at her.

Medda was greatful that he was smiling. He seemed happy.

Maybe they could hopefully stay happy.

**Author's Note:**

> Comment, kudo, or yell at me on Tumblr! (Please comment and kudo)
> 
> @i-guarantee on Tumblr!


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